Work gets underway on a £116 million life-size replica of the Titanic in China’s Sichuan province

Was an American businessmen conned into buying London Bridge?

In 1968 nutty American chainsaw entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch paid $9.5m to dismantle London Bridge and have it shipped to his holiday resort in Arizona.

London planners realised that the bridge was sinking into the Thames and decided to flog it to the American in a desperate bid to fund its replacement.

A popular urban legend claims that McCulloch believed he was shelling out on the far more impressive Tower Bridge – but was debunked when evidence emerged that he visited London to inspect his prize several times before the sale.